Thursday, January 14, 2010

Girls Will Be Girls

You put a group of females together and sooner or later it's inevitable that one will make a snide comment or take a cut in line...whatever, it just happens. I don't know who or what started it last night at bedtime in the goat pen, but it escalated into a full-blown cat fight. It's usually a pair of does, probably establishing dominance or trying to keep their place in the pecking order. Last night, it was Poppy, the sheep, and Cindy, one of the milkers.

Poppy came to me as a month-old bummer lamb. (A bummer has either been orphaned or disowned by its mother, and must "bum" milk from any available udder.) As it happened, I had a group of goat kids the same age when Poppy arrived (small enough to fit into a cardboard box). Consequently, she has grown up thinking she is a goat, including climbing trees...when she was much smaller...and head-butting with the best of them. Unfortunately, Poppy is like the cowbird in the nest, she has outgrown her adopted siblings. In full wool as she is now, she tips the scale at about 250. The grown does are perhaps 120. Poppy normally has the personality of Eeyore, munching her way stolidly through the days, but she does have buttons that can be pushed. And pushing is her best defense. While Cindy was prancing around, rearing up and coming down to butt heads, Poppy just stood firm and let Cindy wear herself down until they just stood head-to-head...Poppy was the immovable object. I learned long ago never to get in the middle of a fight, but I did manage to distract the combatants and get Poppy headed toward the barn. Cindy got in the last word by grabbing a mouthful of wool as Poppy left the arena. (Bitch.) As I said, girls will be girls.

The beastie boys were in full voice about 3 this morning, and close. The local gang of coyotes was cruising either through the front pasture or on the road. They are the reason all the critters on the farm go into housing at night. Not too long ago they took down a full-grown deer in that same front pasture...the chickens would be just an appetizer.

In case you wondered, the photo is of a sunset, taken from the front yard. As you can see, the View From Farview Farm is spectacular!